Background

Special Project Locale

I was able to conduct my research at a private kindergarten, located in Luzon, Philippines. The kindergarten is referred to by the pseudonym ABC, which is a private kindergarten that started operating in 1991 until the present. It is operated by a school directress and two teachers. The kindergarten teaches three classes: (1) Pre-Kinder (i.e., nursery), (2) Junior Kinder (i.e., preschool), and (3) Senior Kinder (i.e., graduating class).

Table 1. Kindergarten Information & Schedule (AY. 2024-2025)

School Environment

Regarding the learning environment, there are two available classrooms, and one is shared by the Pre-Kinder and Senior Kinder. Both classrooms are sized at more or less 32 square meters. There are suitable paintings on the wall such as the alphabet, quotes, characters, school items, and children. The teaching tools that they use are whiteboards, flash cards, textbooks, notebooks, photos, large postcards, and televisions. The classrooms are filled with toys or small play areas that the children can use during their free time. The classrooms are filled with bright colors and a playful vibe. Moreover, outside their classrooms, there is a small playground with a seesaw, a slide, swings, and a basketball net so they can play outdoors while waiting for their parents or guardians to pick them up. ABC has an inviting environment where the children can explore, express their creativity, and develop. To see more of what the institution looks like, you may visit Appendix C.

Teachers

At ABC, there are currently three teachers. Two main teachers (T2 & T3) are assigned to teach all three classes (i.e., Pre-, Junior, and Senior Kinder), and they are also responsible for teaching all available subjects. Due to age restrictions, the school directress (T1) only assists the other teachers and substitutes when needed.

Table 2. Teacher Participants

Table 3. Teacher Demographics

School Directress and I

The picture shows me and all the GSK teachers, including one of their previous teachers, who is also a relative of the school directress

Learners

The learners at ABC are aged 3-6 years old. For the batch of AY 2024-2025, there are more male students than female students. Additionally, a few of them have special needs, which should be accompanied by their guardians during class. The learners can speak and understand the English and Filipino language. Most of the learners in all classes can read and write, while some are still struggling. When it comes to Pre-kinder and Junior Kinder, some of them read slowly by starting with the phonetics before being able to read the whole word.

Most students in Pre-kinder and some students in Junior Kinder write the alphabet and numbers upside down; only two among the nine students in Senior Kinder write them upside down since most of them are more mature and developed. All the students know how to count at least up to 20. Most of them are interested and skilled in mathematics or addition and subtraction of numbers. Although it is challenging to catch the attention and focus of a few students, some of them are active in class since they listen, participate in recitation, follow the orders of teachers, and accomplish their tasks (e.g., seatwork). In summary, all of the young learners are curious, imaginative, and energetic.

Current Practice

Junior and Senior Kinder conduct their classes at the same time and it lasts 2 hours. The Pre-Kinder class is conducted for an hour. Every day, the children have enough time to play before and after their classes. Since the school started operating a long time ago (1991), they still follow the traditional practices such as letting the teachers discuss (i.e., teacher centered) and then guide the students during seatwork (i.e., using textbooks). Currently, the kindergarten does not follow a specific curriculum. They base their lesson plans, assessments, activities, and schedules on their previous classes. They use quarterly pointers to review as their main guide to the topics, and the teachers are the ones responsible for creating the lesson plans, preparing materials, and delivering knowledge for all subjects. Nevertheless, it is a practice that the school directress prefers. You may check the CIPP curriculum evaluation of ABC (see Appendix H) to see more of their current practice.

Some of the pictures were removed and edited using Canva to ABC and their stakeholders anonymous.

This e-Portfolio is submitted in partial fulfillment of the capstone requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Education Studies.

Presented to the Faculty of Education at the University of the Philippines Open University, Los Baños, Laguna.

EDS 199: Special Project 2T-3T-24-25 | jfto@up.edu.ph | 2025

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